Rona Barrett: Decisions, decisions, decisions

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We’ve had to make some really tough decisions in our lives, haven’t we? They didn’t seem so tough to make when we were young and full of ourselves, though, were they? But as we’ve grown older, we can now look back and see the consequences of those decisions.

Personally, I’d love the opportunity to go back and rethink some of them. Of course, none of us can go back. But we can go forward. And the way we can do that is to carefully think through our decisions now. That’s a plus for living as long as we have, isn’t it?

One decision I would never change is to build a better future for all our seniors. That’s what I keep in the forefront of my brain as I continue to carefully think through my tough decisions.

And now here we are, in the midst of an election season that is fraught with anxiety like none of us have probably never experienced.

For some of us, this may be the last election we have the opportunity to cast our vote. Some seniors realize this fact and others don’t. Either way, how we have already voted or will vote will determine not only our own future, but the future of our loved ones, our friends, our country and our world.

It gets really tough when we think beyond ourselves, isn’t it?

Today as always, the central question of our lives is who do we trust? And how does our answer effect our future? Will it be a positive effect or a negative effect?

I know there are some battered souls out there who think it would be easy to just give up and not vote at all. Or to think one voice doesn’t matter so why bother to vote. Either stance would be the biggest mistake we could make.

But far be it for me to tell you how to vote. What I would hope I’m doing is to impress on you is to think your vote through carefully.

And I’m not just talking about the top of the ticket. The down ballot battles and propositions we’re voting on need our careful thinking as well. Each decision we make may individually have a small impact, but collectively they will make a big impact – whether it’s positive or negative.

And on a chilly morning in January only one man will take the oath of the office of the president of the United States:

“I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of president of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

There’s an illuminating article at www.lawfareblog.com that gives us an important perspective on these 35 words:

“It is that the presidential oath is actually the glue that holds together many of our system’s functional assumptions about the presidency and the institutional reactions to it among actors from judges to bureaucrats to the press...”

Depending on our perspective, it’s an easy decision or a tough decision. But we must take responsibility for it. So, if you haven’t already – VOTE!

Until next time ... keep thinking the good thoughts.